SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After nine months of headlines and bitter legal squabbling over the fate of Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, three members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors say they decided the sheriff should not be removed from office over a domestic violence case involving his actress wife.
The board is discussing the case before it votes Tuesday night. It would take at least nine votes from the 11-member board to oust Mirkarimi, who was elected last fall and mired in controversy before his swearing-in ceremony.
So far, three of the first four supervisors to discuss their upcoming vote say they would not find that Mirkarimi was guilty of official misconduct.
When the third announced his intention, Mirkarimi smiled and appeared stunned, and his wife embraced her attorney. A throng of Mirkarimi supporters cheered.
Inside an intense overflow board chambers mostly filled with Mirkarimi supporters, lawyers for both the mayor's office and the sheriff stated their respective cases before board members during an hours-long hearing.
